Trace amts, cross contamination, and derivatives

[LaurieG]

I am really lazy. I keep trying to get by with making as few changes as possible. And I keep getting caught by dd's reactions.

Up until now I haven't worried about very miniscule amts of dairy and soy as I figured since she is "just" intolerant and not truely allergic, and since her issues seem to be (I think) limited to dairy and soy only that I don't have a real serious case on my hands and small amounts shouldn't be an issue. However, dd seems to have some eczema on her face (she has scaly red skin on her cheeks and bridge of her nose) now (I've only seen this in very small patches behind her ear in the past). We have been pretty good the past week about not having anything with dairy or soy and the rash isn't improving but it is cold and dry here and she's had a runny nose that gets wiped on her cheeks. Also, I have been noticing her cheeks flushing for an hour or so at a time. Last night I gave her a few bites of a gingerbread cookie and shortly later she had red cheeks and ears which lasted about an hour. The cookie was from a box and the ingredient list did not mention dairy or soy but did have a few ingredients of questionable origin (i.e. mixed tocopherols).

If you have a child with food intolerances are you finding you have to be very careful about the trace amounts / derivitatives/ etc? Do you think I have a new intolerance I'm dealing with, or reactions to small exposures to the known ones, or random unconnected symptoms?

[pedi08]

What the brand of cookie? I can't find ANY cookie except enjoy life brand without soy/dairy.

I don't know why, I have a poor understanding of all of this, but my DS reacts to small amounts. I EBF and elimintate dairy/soy. I was chewing dentyne fire gum and he was reacting to THAT. So, yes, I think it matters. I keep a food journal but its really hard to pin point things with an infant becuase they get vax's, teeth, get ill, get fussy, somtimes nurse xtra, etc etc, so what could be normal behavior is sometimes driving me crazy because I may be trying to connect a new allergen.

Anyway, I would say yes, trace amounts matter for us but for others they can eat soy lechitin and we can't. We have non IgE allergies (protien induced allergic colitis).

[LaurieG]

I don't know the brand of cookie. It was a box mix from Target - Gingerbread men cut outs with frosting and edible watercolor. I was shocked that it was dairy/ soy free but reasoned that we had to add our own oil so that's how they got away with it. I've already thrown out the box but I'm going to try to find another - I'll let you know if I figure it out.

We also are dealing with protein induced allergic colitis and can't take soy lecithin or soybean oil, but I have been ignoring the "this product may contain trace amounts of..." warning label.

[4Blessings]

You are aware that manufacturers are not required to label "may contain", "shared lines" or "shared facilities", right?

Cross contamination has been know to cause reactions.

The red check and ears would be a sign of a reaction for my DS.

[preemiemamarach]

for us, small/trace amounts were totally fine for a long time, then DS would reach a threshhold and suddenly couldn't take ANY of the offending substance anymore. It's like he reached his Lifetime Corn Derivative Quota- and instead of winning a new car, he got acidic, green, mucusy diarrhea.

Here's how our corn journey went:

was fine with me having corn products while BF

supplemented with soy formula (4 oz/day) at around 5-6 months when my EPing supply started to tank

started having green diarrhea around 6-7 months, which went on FOREVER, but initially stopped with Elecare at 10 months

Switched to Neocate Jr. at 11 months to get him to take more volume- acid poop returned

after switching him to a rice-based toddler formula at 12 months, he could handle small amounts of corn syrup in vanilla extract until 14 months- then one day, he stopped tolerating *that*

now, he can't tolerate maltodextrin, corn starch, modified corn starch- even in trace amounts.

he is now so intolerant of everything (and can't digest whole proteins) that he's on amino acid powder in rice milk with MCT oil. That's it. Even the tiniest amounts of offending substances set him off. Without them, he's totally fine.

The red cheeks would definitely signal a reaction in my son, FWIW.

[kjbrown92]

My kids react to miniscule amounts of their triggers. And I believe it keeps their system in reaction mode. Vs. totally healing. But I could be wrong as my kids aren't healed yet.
Red cheeks was a reaction for DS when he was little and had soy (and soy is still one of his big ones).
mixed tocopherols, I believe is soy isn't it?
From what you say, I think you're still reacting to the things you know of, and they are just reacting to the small amounts. To prove that, all you have to do is make sure every tiny amount is out for a couple weeks. If it doesn't go away THEN start looking for other triggers. For DS with the flushed cheeks, it was within half hour of consumption, which could help you determine the food. And you should start keeping a food journal if you aren't already.

[LaurieG]

Hmm. I wonder if she could be becoming more sensitive since we had so many issues with exposures over the holidays.

Re: the red cheeks - I've also noticed she wakes up from sleeping with red cheeks and they don't fade the way you would expect if the redness was being caused by being overheated. It takes a good hour or so. Do you think she could be reacting to the laundry detergent? But her clothing is washed in the same detergent and she doesn't seem to be reacting other than on her face. Is there some other explanation for the red cheeks?

[pedi08]

Well my DS has the red cheek thing but his poops have been picture perfect! So i guess it could be a new allergy sympton to a new allergen i have no clue about but nothing stands out to me. He has a red cheek only on ONE side too and its where he sticks his fingers in his mouth and we suspect he is teething on that side due to both those things. I have chocked it up to that but who knows? I know i do not!

[LaurieG]

Teething! Ah! She is getting her molars so maybe that explains the cheeks after sleeping, but I still suspect the incident yesterday after the cookie was a reaction.

[springmum]

Cross contamination is a huge trigger for DS, including in our home, friends hands etc.

The holiday parties where everyone was eating crackers, cheese etc. etc., was a huge trigger and eczema on the face and body is what we are still dealing with (taking a while to heal in the dry weather) All it took was someone eating something then touching DS, or something he would put in his mouth. I got to deal with the aftermath of screaming at night, mucousy poops, and the eczema.

I always took trace amounts seriously, but now I take it VERY seriously, since I'm the one who has to watch him suffer and help him heal.

I agree that the cookie was probably the culprit - questionable ingredients usually = reaction for us.

Hope things get better quickly!

[pedi08]

Ya, pediatrician said the rosie cheeks would not correlate with teething but my instinct says YES. I mean, when he sticks his finger in his mouth and is a bit more fussy he gets the cheek (for like a month its been the right side rosier than the left) and I eat generally the same safe foods I have found, so I can't pin point this to FOOD. But, I'm not as savvy figuring this all out, so by all means my DS could be reacting to something I do not know. Geeze, I hope not, I'd feel so badly since my hunch is teething and I'm still consuming the same foods...

[kjbrown92]

My kids used to get the red cheeks from teething as well. But you can usually tell if it's teething with more chewing on fingers and drooling and stuff. When DS used to have soy, then 20 minutes later both cheeks would be hot and red. And it would take a few hours to go down.

[LaurieG]

What other symptoms would/ do you all see in your food intolerant kids when they had / have very small exposures? For example, in my case I know dd doesn't get her typical diarrhea from cross contamination or if something was manufactured in a factory that also deals with her triggers so there are trace amounts. Do you typically see the same symptoms you see with larger exposures but just to a lesser degree? Or is it different symptoms all together?

She's definitely teething and also has an ear infection so maybe the red cheeks are from one or both of those issues???

[kjbrown92]

Well it seems like when I take my kids off a food, then they get it again, they change symptoms. For instance with milk, DS went from projectile vomiting to rash on his butt to night terrors to "growing pains" to bedwetting.

I would think that the ear infection is a sign of something (either that she's still getting dairy in something or a new food).

She's got a lot going on right now in that little body!

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

Well it seems like when I take my kids off a food, then they get it again, they change symptoms. For instance with milk, DS went from projectile vomiting to rash on his butt to night terrors to "growing pains" to bedwetting.

I would think that the ear infection is a sign of something (either that she's still getting dairy in something or a new food).

She's got a lot going on right now in that little body!

: in a nutshell.
DS1's symptoms change, although they usually stay within the range of what he's already presented with- although I am dealing with an IgE reaction to dairy, in that regard.
With wheat/gluten, he gets whinier than usual (he's a sensitive kid so he tends to whine a *lot*- love him to death, of course, but sheesh). That's all I've been able to correlate with that intolerance and he hasn't been cc nor trace amounted by eggs, to my knowledge.

[LaurieG]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

I would think that the ear infection is a sign of something (either that she's still getting dairy in something or a new food).

She's got a lot going on right now in that little body!

The cold that led to the ear infection came on the very day after our family Christmas celebration where a lot of cheese was consumed (long story - basically I was 3 hrs from home with nothing except dairy to eat. Even the salad had shredded cheese in it). Anyhow, I think that is the reason for the ear infection now. But if we've been dairy and soy free for a good week now (except the cookie incident) would the ear infection be clearing unless there is something else?

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by LaurieG

The cold that led to the ear infection came on the very day after our family Christmas celebration where a lot of cheese was consumed (long story - basically I was 3 hrs from home with nothing except dairy to eat. Even the salad had shredded cheese in it). Anyhow, I think that is the reason for the ear infection now. But if we've been dairy and soy free for a good week now (except the cookie incident) would the ear infection be clearing unless there is something else?

I would be more vigilant after such a huge exposure- at *least* until the ear infection is cleared up. If you reintroduce "trace amts" and such after that and there's no reaction, I might not worry- although some will argue that there could still be damage that isn't obvious happening.